The long overdue, widely advertised, win-the-war offensive of Generalissimo Francisco Franco began at dawn one clear, cold day last week in western Catalonia. Hardest fighting took place in the mountainous section near Tremp, where snow was so deep that communications bogged and the temperature was so low that water froze in the cooling jackets of machine guns. A second, lighter attack, believed to be merely a diversion, took place in the flatter country near the Segre River.
At week's end, after three days of fighting, Generalissimo Franco's troops— Spaniards, Italians, Moors—had advanced...